Word Origin & History

dissident 1530s, from L. dissidentem (nom. dissidens), prp. of dissidere "to be remote, disagree, be removed from," lit. "to sit apart," from dis- "apart" + sedere "to sit" (see sedentary). The noun in the political sense first used 1940, with rise of totalitarian systems, especially with ref. to the Soviet Union. The noun is first recorded 1766, in allusion to Protestants.

Example Sentences for dissident

Anti-clericalism works for the benefit of the dissident sect.

It was established by the dissident Jews who united with the Platonists.

And after tonight, I wasn't sure that I was in any better shape than a Chinese dissident.

His head answers for his discretion; he is a dissident priest.

About three in the morning, the dissident Armed-Forces have met.

Thy-doxy, if thou be Dissident, is that he cannot; but that he must become an accursed thing.

Hoxha silenced the dissident elements, however, and had most of them expelled from the Party or arrested.

Moreover, these dissident patterns merge into a remarkably harmonious, almost normal, average curve.

The arguments employed had been considered and rejected a hundred times already by every member of the dissident group.

The first thing to do was to create a strong frontier against the dissident tribes of the Blad-es-Siba.